Breakdown of Hace dos años que estudio español con la misma profesora.
yo
I
con
with
español
Spanish
que
that
el año
the year
estudiar
to study
hacer
to make
la
the
dos
two
mismo
same
la profesora
the teacher
Questions & Answers about Hace dos años que estudio español con la misma profesora.
Why is hacer used in Hace dos años que estudio español and does it mean “to make” here?
In this construction hacer is an impersonal time verb; it does not mean “to make.” When you say Hace dos años que + [present tense], you’re marking how long an action has been going on. So Hace dos años que estudio español literally means “It makes two years that I study Spanish,” i.e. “I have been studying Spanish for two years.”
Can I say Estudio español hace dos años instead?
Why is estudio in the present tense rather than a perfect form like he estado estudiando?
With Hace…que Spanish uses the simple present to express an action that began in the past and continues now. It’s equivalent to English “I have been studying…,” even though Spanish doesn’t always need the present perfect progressive. You could say He estado estudiando español por dos años, but with Hace dos años que…, the present tense is correct and most idiomatic.
What other ways are there to say “I have been studying Spanish for two years with the same teacher”?
Is Hace dos años que estudio español the same as Hace dos años, estudié español?
Why do we say con la misma profesora instead of con mi misma profesora?
La misma profesora (“the same teacher”) identifies a person already known in context. Using mi misma profesora would awkwardly translate to “my identical teacher.” If you want to stress possession you’d say con mi profesora, but to stress continuity with the exact same person you say con la misma profesora.
Do I always need the word que after hace dos años?
Yes, if you stick to the Hace…que + [present tense] pattern. The que is the link between the time expression and the verb:
• Correct: Hace dos años que estudio español.
• Incorrect: Hace dos años estudio español.
If you drop que, you must switch to desde hace or another structure.
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“How does verb conjugation work in Spanish?”
Spanish verbs change form based on the subject, tense, and mood. Regular verbs follow predictable patterns depending on whether they end in ‑ar, ‑er, or ‑ir. For example, "hablar" (to speak) becomes "hablo" (I speak), "hablas" (you speak), and "habla" (he/she speaks) in the present tense.
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